Hooky
by quietthinker
Summary: When Jimmy and Cindy are absent from school, their friends don't think much of it. But when every kid in school is suddenly in danger, Cindy and Jimmy are the only ones who can save them. But where are they?
1. The Invitation

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"So, Neutron. You in or what?" Cindy asked the boy genius sitting across from her. They were at the Candy Bar alone, which was quite unusual. They had attracted quite a few stares when they walked in together.

"I don't know, Cind. Hooky? You could get in serious trouble for that," Jimmy nervously told her.

Cindy sighed andnervously tapped her fingers on the table. "Come on, Jimmy. We did it beforewhen we went toEgypt, remember?"

Jimmy shook his head. "That time was different. It was either leave school or die of boredom. I mean, that movie was like a hundred hours on sand! And we _did_ get in trouble, remember?"

Cindy grabbed his hand and smiled. "Come on, Neutron. You've got to get your hands dirty once in a while if you want to enjoy life. You spend so much time in that lab; you should come out and have some fun. Besides, we're the two smartest kids in school. It's not like missing one little day will mean anything."

Jimmy rubbed his chin. As much as he hated to admit it, the idea of spending the day alone with Cindy did excite him. _Well, I guess you have to grow closer after all we've been through._ Jimmy smiled. "Yeah, we'll do it. Tomorrow."

Cindy smiled and let go of his hand. Jimmy just closed his eyes and thought of something. "Cindy, why are you asking _me_ to do this? I could see if the others were coming, but just the two of us? That's never happened before."

Cindy frowned a little. In order to spend the day with Jimmy, she had to have taken the risk of him asking that question. "Two reasons. One. Carl, Sheen, and Libby need all the schooling that they can get. And two, we never do anything just the two of us. Which is weird, because we are friends and all." _That was actually pretty smooth._

Jimmy nodded his head. He had been expecting a more...revealing answer, but it answered his question. "Yeah, ok. It sounds like fun." Just then the waitress came by and dropped off the check. As Cindy reached into her pocket for some money, Jimmy paid for both of them.

Cindy stared at him. "What?" Jimmy innocently asked.

Cindy smiled. "You've never done that before."

Jimmy shrugged. "It was just a shake. It's not like you ordered lobster or anything."

"It was still sweet," Cindy said as they both got up. She leaned to her side and gently kissed Jimmy's cheek.

"Huh," was all Jimmy said. He grabbed her hand and they exited the Candy Bar. As they headed home, he wondered something. "So what would be the reward if you had gotten the lobster?"

Cindy laughed. "In your dreams, big brain. In your dreams," she playfully told him.


	2. Parents

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Jimmy was sitting at the table in his kitchen early the next morning. As he took a few small bites out of his waffles he kept nervously rapping his fingers against the table.

"Something wrong, honey?" his mother asked as she took a seat next to him. "You seem nervous about something."

Jimmy sighed. _I get our parents kidnapped by aliens, cause a new ice age, and nearly blow up on the planet on a regular basis, but playing hooky is what gets me nervous?_ "Just a math test today. That's all."

Mrs. Neutron seemed a little puzzled. Her son had never expressed anxiety about passing a test before. He had proved that he could handle college-level work, after all. She knew he was hiding something from her, but she thought it was better to drop it for now.

"Ok honey. Just have a good day at school. And try to get along with that Cindy," she said as Jimmy walked out the door.

Meanwhile, Cindy was finishing her plain oatmeal and protein bar. She sighed through clenched teeth as her mother walked into the kitchen. "Morning mom."

Mrs. Vortex poured herself a cup of coffee and looked at her daughter. "Good morning, Cynthia." She paused as she stirred her drink, almost as if she didn't know how to talk to her daughter. "I trust you are still getting straight A's in all your classes?"

Cindy just nodded her head. "Yes, ma'am."

"And you are beating that little Neutron punk?"

Cindy clenched her fists a little. "He's not that bad, mom."

Mrs. Vortex glared at her daughter. "Is this the same boy that was all you could talk about for months? The boy that you said you hated?" She paused in realization. "The boy that you hang out with now? The boy that you always seem to defend?"

Now it was Cindy's turn to glare at her mother. "What are you insinuating?"

Mrs. Vortex's smile of knowing changed to a frown as she walked by her daughter. She bent down and stared her in the eyes. "Befriending a rival and enemy is bad enough. But _crushing_," she spat out that last word, "on them is a different story. It is a sign of defeat. You are better than that Neutron, and don't you forget it!"

Cindy angrily slung her empty backpack over her shoulders and headed out the door. "Yeah. I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Cindy and Jimmy exited the house at the same time. Jimmy cheerily waved as he ran across the street to meet her. Cindy sighed and put on a fake smile. _Come on, Cindy. This is your big day alone with Jimmy. Don't let mom spoil it._

"Hey Jimmy," Cindy said.

"Hey Cind." Jimmy glanced down a few times at her hand before grabbing it and intertwining their fingers. "So, what's the plan?"

Cindy's angry thoughts of her mother disappeared as Jimmy grabbed her hand. It was becoming harder and harder to deny her feelings towards him. "We head to school, but stop by the Candy Bar. We'll call the school and phone ourselves in sick. Then we just wing it. You got the invention you promised?"

Jimmy nodded and pulled a small device out of his pocket. He pushed a button and spoke into it. "Yep," he said in his mother's voice. He smiled and put it back in his pocket.

And so they both embarked on what would be the best day of their lives. Or so they thought.

**Author's Note: Well, after several failed first chapters for various stories, I think I've finally got a winner here. It's no _Red Snow_, but I think it will be pretty good. Please review and tell me what you think of it so far.**


	3. A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Cindy and Jimmy emerged from the library. Cindy was shaking her head and angrily muttering to herself. She turned her attention to Jimmy. "Leave it to Jimmy Neutron to go to the library while playing hooky! Bravo, Nerdtron!" she angrily shouted while throwing her hands up in the air.

Jimmy angrily spun around and faced her. "They were only holding the book until the end of the day!"

Jimmy and Cindy glared at each other. Both were surprised to hear themselves arguing again.

Cindy sighed. "Fine. But you already did something you wanted. Now it's my turn. I say we go to Retroland," she snootily said before spinning back around and heading towards the theme park. Jimmy walked beside her and tried to grab her hand, but she pulled it away.

They walked in silence until they reached the park. Most couples would have apologized long ago, but Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex were certainly not most couples. They paid their separate admissions and entered the theme park. They sat down on a bench a few yards ahead of them.

"So now what?" Jimmy asked.

"What do you mean?" Cindy asked him.

"Do we split up or stay together?" Jimmy questioned.

They both stared at each other. "Your call," Cindy told him.

Jimmy thought for a moment. He may not be best friends with Cindy for the moment, but perhaps having some fun together would help them patch things up. Besides, saying that he wanted to split up would undoubtedly create another argument.

"I want to stay with you," Jimmy said. He mentally cursed himself. _I want to stay with you? What the heck is that? Why don't I just tell her I want to marry her?_

Cindy nodded her head in approval of Jimmy's answer. "Good call." They both got up and looked at each other. Jimmy reached for her hand, and this time Cindy allowed him to take it. Jimmy led her over to the roller coaster. They strapped themselves in and smiled at each other before speeding off. 

For the next several hours Jimmy and Cindy rode all the rides in the park at least twice. Seeing as it was the middle of a school day, the place was practically empty. As they exited the roller coaster for the third time, Jimmy asked Cindy something.

"I know it's a weird thing to say after riding on a roller coaster, but I'm kind of hungry," he told her.

Cindy nodded. "Yeah, me too. We'd be having lunch if we were at school right now. Let's hit the food court."

As they walked over to a hot dog stand Jimmy stopped Cindy and pointed at something. "Cindy, hang on a sec." He showed her a photo-taking booth a few dozen yards away. "Let's take a picture."

Cindy smiled as he said this. "Yeah, why not. But you're buying."

They ran over to the machine and stepped inside. Jimmy closed the curtains and deposited several dollar bills. He smiled as they took a seat next to each other. "Ready?" he asked.

Cindy laughed. "Sure."

The flashes of the pictures being taken soon occurred. For the first photo, they both sat on the bench smiling. They made funny faces for the next one. As the next flash came they were laughing. The fourth picture showed them both blushing as Jimmy grabbed her hand. For the next picture Cindy kissed Jimmy's cheek. The sixth photo showed them staring at each other, a hint of confusion of their faces. The final photo showed their lips connecting.


	4. Shoe Shopping?

**Disclaimer: For what has to be the hundredth time, I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters. I mean, come on! If I did own the show, why would I be writing fan fiction! God, these disclaimers are dumb! **

**Author's Note: Thanks to all my reviewers for such a heavy response. I really enjoy reading them. And I'd like to give a big thank-you to _El Chupacabra_, who is my favorite author on this site. Now on to the story!**

Jimmy and Cindy slowly stepped out of the photo booth. Jimmy grabbed the pictures and placed them in his pocket. They stopped walking and stood in front of the booth, frozen. They stared straight ahead, their faces blank.

"Uh," Jimmy muttered.

"Yeah," Cindy said.

"Did we just?" Jimmy whispered.

"Yeah," Cindy nervously told him.

They stood there for several more moments, not knowing what to say. Finally Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck. "Did you, uh...like it?"

Cindy stared at him. "Did you?"

"I asked you first!" Jimmy shouted.

"So?" she shot back.

They both glared at each other. Jimmy's expression softened a little as he stared at Cindy's eyes. "You want to know? Fine! Yeah, I liked it! Ok?"

Cindy continued glaring at Jimmy. "Well so did I!" she shouted.

"Then we are we yelling?"

"I don't know!"

Jimmy and Cindy continued glaring at each other. Suddenly Jimmy smiled and started laughing. Cindy did the same. Jimmy grabbed her hand and led her to the food court.

As Jimmy ordered and paid for their meals, Cindy sat down at a table. She sighed dreamily as she stared at Jimmy.

_Well, I guess mom won't be happy about this. So I just won't tell her._ "Hey," she said as Jimmytook a seatnext to her.

Jimmy slid her meal over to her and began to eat. "So, what do you want to do after this? It's already," he paused for a moment to look at his watch, "a little past noon. We've certainly done everything we can do here."

Cindy nodded. "It's your choice. I did pick Retroland, after all."

Jimmy leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes while thinking about this. He didn't have any inventions with him besides the talking device, so they couldn't travel too far. H snapped his fingers as he thought of something. "There's a mall in the next town over. We could take the bus, spend a couple of hours there, and be back home when our parents are expecting us."

Cindy nodded. "That's a good idea. I need to get some new shoes anyway," she said while getting up and walking out of the park.

Jimmy paused for a moment before running after her. "Shoe shopping?"


	5. This Just In

****

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

Half an hour later Jimmy and Cindy entered the mall. Jimmy sighed as he trudged along behind Cindy. They attracted a few glares from adults wondering what they were doing out of school on a week day, but they just went back to their business.

"This is it," Cindy excitedly said as they approached a fancy girl's clothing store. Jimmy slammed his palm into his forehead and dragged it down his face.

"Cind, do we really have to do this?"

Cindy turned around and stared at him. "Don't worry. I just need one pair of shoes. We'll be out in five minutes.

__

One Hour and Five Minutes Later

Jimmy was leaning against the wall, glancing at his watch every few seconds. "Jimmy!" Cindy shouted.

Jimmy shook his head and stared at Cindy. "Huh? What?"

Cindy angrily sighed. "Which ones look better? The red or green?"

Despising himself for betraying all men everywhere, Jimmy actually thought about the question. He intently inspected each pair of shoes. "The green."

Cindy looked skeptically at him. "Really?"

Jimmy nodded. "The red are nice, but the green ones match your emerald eyes."

Cindy was a little surprised at his answer, but took them over to the register. As she waited for a cashier to come along Jimmy leaned against the counter.

"If we had to shop for some clothes, couldn't we at least have looked for something useful? Like shirts or something? Nobody cares about shoes."

Cindy brushed him off and paid the clerk that had come by. She grabbed her bag and exited the store.

Jimmy walked beside her. He sighed and offered to hold the bag for her. _Amazing. It takes us two years to hold hands, yet an hour later I'm her servant. That's dating for ya._ "Since when do you care about shoes and stuff anyway? Whatever happened to the tomboy Cindy?"

Cindy spun around and raised a fist at Jimmy. "There she is," he said while nervously laughing.

Jimmy clenched his teeth in fear as he looked up at the giant clock on the other end of the mall. "Cind, we really have to get a move on. We have to be home in half an hour."

"Yeah, you're right," she told him.

Several seconds later Cindy thought of something. Despising herself for betraying all women everywhere, she apologized to Jimmy. "Sorry I took so long in there. I know this was supposed to be your thing."

Jimmy smiled. "It's alright. I'm sure you can find a way to repay me," he playfully grinned. "But I don't think this is going to work if all we do is shop for shoes," he joked.

Cindy stopped and stared at Jimmy. "What did you just say?"

Jimmy held up his hands. "I was just kidding, Cind. We can go shoe shopping again if you want."

Cindy shook her head. "Not that. Say it again."

Jimmy could tell she was serious. "All I said was that I don't think this is going to work if..." he suddenly stopped as he realized what he had said. "Oh."

"You think we're, um, well?" Cindy asked.

Jimmy racked his brain for something to say. "Well, I..."

Luckily for Jimmy, their conversation was interrupted when they heard someone behind them mention their elementary school. They spun around to see that they were in front of an electronics store. There were several television screens playing the same news program. They both became quiet and listened to what the correspondent was saying.

"As you can see behind me, things are becoming more and more tense outside Lindbergh Elementary School. The police are frozen in fear, never having seen anything of this caliber happen before in their small town. The fact that it is children in danger isn't making things any easier for them."

The camera changed to show the anchorwoman sitting behind her desk. "And that was Patty Tibul with that unfolding story. We'll certainly keep you up to date as on this story as we receive more information. Please stay tuned."

****

Author's Note: I told you this was going to be an action/adventure as well as romance.


	6. An Unfolding Story

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Cindy and Jimmy stared at each other. "What is going on?" she nervously asked.

Jimmy was just as confused as she was. "I don't know. But let's get home and find out."

Jimmy grabbed her hand and ran out of the mall. They ran down the street to the bus stop. As the moments went by, Jimmy started pacing around. "God this is ridiculous! Where the hell is the bus?"

Cindy stared at him. "Don't you have something in your watch that can take us home?"

Jimmy stared back at her. "Why yes Cindy, I have a helicopter in my watch. Hop in!" he angrily shouted.

"Hey, you've got a freakin' laser in it!"

Just then the bus rolled to a stop beside them. They rushed into the vehicle and took a seat. Jimmy noticed that the person beside him was listening to a radio.

"Sir, can I please use that?" he asked. The man glared at him. "Please?"

Cindy sighed and thrust ten dollars into the guy's palm. He raised an eyebrow and handed the radio over to Cindy.

Cindy and Jimmy turned it to a news station and each put on one half of the headphones. They listened intently to the report.

"Well that's quite an interesting story there, Tom. Now back to our main story. We've got some new information about the situation at Lindbergh Elementary School. The police are still hesitant to do anything. Retroville has one of the lowest crime rates in the USA, so the local police force is completely unprepared to handle something like this.

As the police stand outside the school, frozen in fear and confusion, we still have very little information about what is going on in the inside. A special task force is being called into the area. There is no telling how long that could take. Police estimate there have been at least two civilian casualties."

Suddenly the radio _click_ed off. Jimmy noticed that the batteries had died. "Damn it!" he angrily shouted. Several people on the bus stared at him, but Jimmy didn't care. He looked up from the radio to see that they were approaching Retroville. He tossed the radio back to the man, grabbed Cindy's hand, and ran off of the bus.

Jimmy and Cindy stared at each other, both extremely worried. They were about a mile from their houses. Finally Jimmy spoke up. "So what do we do?"

"How should I know?" Cindy nervously shot back.

Jimmy walked into the nearby park, with Cindy close behind. They sat down on a wooden bench. Jimmy buried his head in his hands. "Ok, let's recap. We know there is something seriously wrong going down at school. Two people have died. The police are involved, but they're in way over their heads. We played hooky, so our parents still think we're at the school."

Cindy nodded. "Well I want to know exactly what is going on!"

"Yeah, me too. We better get home and tell out parents we're ok. We can watch the news there and get the whole story."

Jimmy jumped up off the bench, but Cindy wrapped her hand around his arm and pulled him back down next to him. "Not so fast, Jimmy. Our parents think we're stuck in the school in some life-threatening situation. We can't exactly walk through the front door and say hi."

"Well, yeah. We'll have to tell them we didn't go to school today. But we need to know the whole story, and they deserve to know that we're alright."

Cindy gulped. "Jimmy, we'll get in trouble!"

Jimmy stared incredulously at her. "Yesterday you were fearless!"

"Well we weren't planning on admitting to our parents that we were skipping school!" Cindy reminded him.

Jimmy couldn't believe what she was saying. "Cind, there is something really wrong going on at school. The police are in over their heads, they might need our help. Our parents think we could be dead. And you don't want to fix all of that because you're worried about getting in trouble?"

Cindy sighed. "Yeah, you're right." They both got up and started walking back to their homes. Suddenly Cindy stopped in realization. "Neutron, we can't go back home! You say the kids at school might need our help, right?" Jimmy just nodded. "Well do you think our parents are going to let us go rushing in to a life-threatening situation?"

Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, no. I guess not. But we'll go anyway. What are they going to do, physically restrain us?"

"No, but they could slow us down. And we don't know how serious the situation at school is. Those few seconds they waste could kill our friends. We can't let them know we're safe."

Jimmy was getting agitated now. It seemed that he was at a dead end. "So what do you suggest we do?"

Cindy walked over to him and plucked a hair off his head. "We use your lab."


	7. The Other Three

Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

Author's Note: Thanks for all of your reviews! 27 at the time I'm righting this! Please keep them coming, they really make my day.

Lindbergh Elementary School

Earlier that Day

"This is weird," Libby muttered under her breath as she entered Ms. Fowl's classroom.

"What is?" Sheen asked as he jumped into the seat next to Libby. He put his feet up on the desk as Ms. Fowl exited the classroom and walked down the hallway.

Libby sighed, but she couldn't help but smile as her neurotic 'boyfriend' sat next to her. "Cindy and Jimmy aren't here yet. They're never late or absent. They live to compete with each other here."

Sheen shrugged. "Everybody gets sick, Libs."

Libby shook her head. "We just saw them yesterday. They looked fine."

Sheen thought for a moment as Carl took a seat next to him. "So do you think that Cindy has invited Jimmy to play hooky with her in an elaborate attempt to get closer to him, thereby excluding us?" he offered. Sheen stopped talking and rubbed his chin. "Nah, that's stupid."

At any rate, the three friends shrugged off this strange phenomenon and turned their attention to the blackboard as Ms. Fowl reentered the classroom.

Several hours later the three friends made their way to the cafeteria. A little confused about where to sit since Jimmy and Cindy weren't there, they took a seat with Nick and several other classmates.

"So, this is really weird, guys. Jimmy and Cindy are still out," Libby mentioned once again.

Sheen just kept eating. "Libby, I really don't see why you're so upset. This is all that is happening. Jimmy and Cindy are both sick. It's not that weird."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Libby told him. _Wow. That's definitely not something you usually say to Sheen._

"Why don't we just visit them and make sure they're ok after school?" Carl offered.

Libby nodded her head. "Yeah. Sheen's right, they're probably just sick. I'm sure they could use the company."

Just then the bell rang. All children in the cafeteria sighed as they gave up their twenty minutes of freedom and returned to the prison that was their classroom. Carl, Sheen, and Libby tossed their trays into the garbage. They continued talking as they began the trek back to Ms. Fowl's class.

"Hey, check that out!" Sheen shouted, interrupting Libby and Carl's conversation. The three of them stopped walking and looked behind them. Several men dressed in black carrying packages entered the school and headed towards the office.

"Who do you think they are?" Carl nervously asked.

Libby looked outside the window. "Just some package delivery people," she answered while looking at their truck.

"Move it!" an angry fourth-grader shouted. Sheen, Carl, and Libby were obstructing the flow of traffic in the hallway.

"Come on, let's get back to class before we're late," Libby told her friends while glaring at the fourth-grader. They continued down the hallway.


	8. Let's Do It

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Jimmy and Cindy ran as fast as they could towards their houses. They breathed a sigh of relief as they finally entered their street. They could see the gap between them and their houses growing smaller and smaller. They froze as they saw their moms coming out of the Vortexes' house.

"Get down!" Jimmy whispered as he grabbed a hold of Cindy's arm and pulled her into some nearby bushes. They became deafly quiet and tried to listen to what their mothers were saying.

"It's ok, dear. I'm sure they're going to be fine," Mrs. Vortex said as she escorted Mrs. Neutron across the street.

Jimmy's mother was sobbing uncontrollably. "They said that at least two people were killed. How do we know it's not one of our children?" she asked between tears.

Mrs. Vortex patted Judy's hand. "We don't. Just hope for the best and stay calm," she coolly told her troubled neighbor. She opened the door for Mrs. Neutron and closed it for her once she entered her own house. Mrs. Vortex spun around and walked back across the street to her home.

Jimmy stood up and stepped out of the bushes. He bent down and offered Cindy his hand. She grabbed it and he pulled her up. "You ok? I didn't mean to throw you into the bushes," he said, a little concerned.

"I'm fine," Cindy angrily said as she brushed the leaves out of her hair. "Let's just get to your lab," she told him while walking off.

Jimmy slowly followed her. He felt bad that his mom was so worried about him, but he felt even worse for Cindy. It looked like her mom barely cared. _With a mom like that, no wonder she's so pissed all the time._

Cindy stopped walking and leaned against the entrance to the lab. She opened her palm to reveal the strand of hair she had plucked off of Jimmy earlier. He took it and held it up to the DNA scanner. He swung the now unlocked door open, grabbed her hand, and led her inside. 

As they delved deeper into the lab, Cindy forgot all about her mother. She became entranced by the whirring and buzzing machines all around her. Jimmy had obviously changed his lab around since she had last been in there._ Wow. Sometimes I forget how much of a genius he is until I see something like this._

Jimmy pulled a chair out for Cindy and sat down in one next to it. He stared up at the wall of monitors in front of him. "Computer, activate monitors one through four. Display television channels CNN, 6, 10, and 12 in that order. Show closed-captioning. Record all broadcasts on those channels over the next twenty-four hours for future reference," he commanded.

As soon as Jimmy was done speaking four monitors came to life, showing the television channels Jimmy had just requested. Cindy and Jimmy stared at the images, but they couldn't decipher what they were saying due to them all speaking at once.

"Cut audio on monitors one through three," he instructed. A second later they could only hear what was on monitor four. They stared at the news correspondent that was standing in front of their school.

"And the scene is still very tense outside Lindbergh Elementary School," she told the camera.

"Come on, come on. Give some details," Jimmy quietly whispered to himself.

"Incase you are just tuning in, here is the situation at this school. At approximately noon this morning, several unidentified men entered the school. They were driving a FedEx van and were carrying packages.

Under the guise of delivering said packages, they were allowed to enter the school. Once they came into the office, they unleashed a torrent of bullets which killed seven administrators. Police were able to figure this out by hacking into the school's security cameras.

The Retroville Police Force is tragically undermanned and under trained for such a serious dilemma. The police officers behind me seem to be almost paralyzed with fear and confusion.

Very little is known about what is happening inside the school. The gunmen have made no demands yet, and the police have done very little besides waiting outside the school. It is not known what has happened to the children. We can only hope that they are still alive."

The screen shifted back to the anchorwoman. "This is truly a horrendous story. If you are related to any of the children or faculty at Lindbergh Elementary, please call the police at 555-7394. They will give you otherwise classified information."

Jimmy grabbed the remote as the commercials came on. He turned all the monitors off and ran his hands through his hair._ Come on Sheen, Carl, and Libby. Be ok._

Cindy clenched her fists in anger. She turned towards Jimmy as he spoke to her.

"So, now what?" he asked.

Cindy hopped off of her seat and walked over to a nearby shelf that contained many of Jimmy's inventions. She examined each one of them carefully, searching for a weapon. "Obviously we go in there and help them."

Jimmy stood up as well and walked over to her. "Cindy, there are people with guns in there who killed at least seven people. I don't really know if this is a job for two fifth-graders."

Cindy glared at him. "Are you scared?"

Jimmy glared back. "Hell yeah. I'll be the first to admit I was scared when we fought the Yolkians, when we played Intergalactic Showdown, when we did all of our other adventures. But I did it anyway because it had to be done. We have to look at this logically. Do you really think that we can do this ourselves?"

"What do you suggest?" Cindy asked.

"I'm just saying think about this for a second. Short of busting in there, is there any other option? If we have to risk our lives and go in there, you know I'll do it. I just don't want to take any unnecessary risks."

Cindy thought about his words for a minute. Then she spoke up. "There's no other way and you know it."

Jimmy sighed. "Then let's do it."


	9. Another's Perspective

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Lindbergh Elementary School

Approximately 12:05 p.m.-12:20 p.m.

"So, this is one heck of a day," Nick said while putting his feet up on the desk in front of him. "No homework so far, a nice lunch, and to top it all off, no sign of Neutron. Yep, life is sweet," he told several nearby classmates. They all nodded their heads in agreement.

Just then Ms. Fowl walked back into the classroom. Everyone turned straight ahead and became quiet. She smiled at their obedience. "Well, take out your history books and open to page," she was cut off by the intercom crackling on.

"Attention students. Sorry to interrupt..." Mr. Willoughby paused as he heard a popping sound behind him. Keeping the microphone on, he spun around and saw a man dressed in black with a black mask holding a gun at him. He could see his secretary and several other coworkers lying on the floor in a puddle of blood.

"Finish the announcement," the man softly said. "Do it!" he said a little louder.

Mr. Willoughby nodded his head and grabbed the microphone. "Um, please do not throw food in the cafeteria. That is all." He placed the microphone back down and _pretended _to turn it off.

"What is..." was all the gym teacher had time to say before getting shot twice in the chest. He clutched his bloody shirt and fell on the floor.

The masked gunmen took a few steps back, keeping his gun aimed at Principal Willoughby's heart. Principal Willoughby could tell he was about to be shot. "Kids hide!" he shouted before the bullet struck him.

Across the school, children and adults alike stared at the intercom, terribly confused by what was going on. Sheen, Carl, and Libby stared at each other, scared out of their minds. "What exactly is going on?" Libby asked no one in particular.

Her question was answered when another gunmen kicked the door to the classroom down. He entered the room and saturated it with bullets. Once his clip was empty he pulled out another fully loaded gun and surveyed the damage.

Sheen, Carl, Nick, Libby, Brittany, and two other students lay crouched under their desks. Some were hurt, but they were alive. Everyone else, including Ms. Fowl, lay dead.

The masked man quickly counted the survivors. The killer spoke into the handless cell phone on his head (you know, the ones that government agents wear on TV). "We've got seven alive in here. Uh-huh. Consider it done. Need second man for capturing."

The man tightened his grip on the gun in his right hand. "Sorry kids. Can only handle so many hostages." He fired two bullets each into the two nameless students.

The five others stared on in horror. The gunmen turned his attention to them. "Stand up with your hands above your head." Nobody moved. "Now!" he angrily shouted while firing a bullet near Libby's foot. Everyone jumped up.

A second masked gunmen entered the room. He aimed a pistol at the kids as the first gunmen put his away. He pulled some rope and tape out of his backpack. "You try anything, _anything_ funny, and we'll blow your brains out. We've got plenty more hostages."

He stepped forward and tied each persons hands behind their back. He also duck-taped their mouths shut. "Move," he said while pulling out his gun again and pointing it at the door. Nick, Libby, Sheen, Carl, and Brittany slowly made their way out into the hallway.


	10. Libby

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Lindbergh Elementary School

Approximately 12:30 p.m

The five remaining kids lay bound and gagged in the gym, slumped against the wall. Libby took a look around. There were about twenty other kids that weren't in her class. Her eyes watered as she saw a lone kindergartner lying on the floor, crying. Even though his mouth was taped shut, she could still hear his muffled cries of "Mommy!".

She turned her head away from the kid, not needing another reason to cry. She looked at the entrance to the gym. One men with a gun lay standing against the wall, staring intently at each of her fellow students. Outside the door she knew stood two armed men as well. She knew that there were at least two others on the office and one on the top floor acting as a sniper. That meant there were seven, at least.

As the guard turned his attention from her to a kid at the other end of the room, she slowly moved her bound right hand up and down. When she had fallen off her desk, she had clutched a tiny fragment of glass from a broken window that had been lying on the floor. Very slowly, she could feel the sharp glass breaking the ropes.

_Come on, come on!_ she angrily thought as she moved a little faster. She stopped when the guard looked at her again. _Who am I kidding? Even if I manage to get myself out of these ropes, what am I going to do? Run at them and stab them with the glass? They'll shoot me dead before I get five feet._

As the guard looked away again she continued sawing at the ropes. She felt one of the last strips give way. There were only a couple left now. She almost broke them right there, but thought better of it. _Eventually we'll have to move to another room. They'll notice if my ropes are broken. Maybe I can break them then and surprise them._

She sighed as best she could with tape around her mouth. Loosening her ropes wasn't much, but it was something. It gave her hope. At least she had the ability to attack. It was just a matter of waiting.

She noticed something in the corner of her eye as she laid her head against the wall. She glanced over to see a kid a few yards down. He looked a little younger than her, maybe a fourth-grader. She noticed that he had also undone the ropes binding his hands together. He looked over at her and winked. Libby knew what he was going to do. She shook her head violently, but he did it anyway.

He ripped the tape off of his mouth and charged at the gunmen. "Ah!" he screamed as he ran towards him.

The gunmen simply fired three rounds at the boy's head. Libby looked away from the pile of bloody brain matter that lay on the floor.

The gunmen stood up. "That is what will happen to you if you don't shut up and do as we say. We have over twenty hostages, wasting one of you doesn't make a difference. You aren't going to escape, and no one is coming for you! So just sit tight!"

Libby closed her eyes and banged her head against the wall. _He's wrong. Jimmy and Cindy will come. They've got too._ Little did she know that they were at an amusement park right now, having lunch.


	11. A Plan and a Kill

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Cindy curiously watched as Jimmy ran back over to his seat and grabbed his backpack. He rushed back over to where Cindy stood and started inspecting the inventions lined up. Every few seconds he picked one up, but he put them back on the shelf.

"What do you have?" Cindy asked.

"Not too much. I don't usually build weapons." He grabbed what looked like jawbreakers and gave Cindy a few. He slipped some in his pocket. "Smoke bombs."

She followed him as he sat down in a nearby chair and began tallying things up. "This is what we've got. The smoke bombs I gave you, my jetpack, and these," he said while opening a drawer and pulling out a two knives. He spun it around and grabbed the blade, holding the hilt towards Cindy. She nervously grabbed it and put it in her pocket.

"What about the hypno-beam?" she asked him.

Jimmy shook his head. "Broken."

"Goddard?" she asked again.

Jimmy shook his head yet again and stood up. "He doesn't fit into my plan."

Cindy put her hands on her hips and looked at him as he tied his shoes. "And the plan would be?"

Jimmy got back up and ran towards the exit. "No time to explain. I'll tell you on the way." He stopped as he swung the door open. He turned to his side and saw Cindy. "Incase something happens," he started to tell her.

"Jimmy," Cindy interrupted.

Jimmy shook his head. "No, listen. Incase something happens, just know that I, I," he stuttered. He paused a moment, before frowning in defeat. "I had a good time with you today."

Cindy grabbed his shoulder. "Me too. Now let's move it, Nerdtron," she said before running down the street.

Jimmy stared after her a moment, feeling the spot on his shoulder where she had just touched him. He smiled as the familiar shudder came over him. "Right behind you, _Vortex_," he sadly mumbled before following her.

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The two gunmen in the school's office were growing more and more impatient. They had never done something of this caliber before, but they knew the police should have done _something _by now. "Screw procedure. We'll start the negotiations ourselves," he said to his partner. He just nodded in agreement.

The first gunmen spoke into his handless cell phone. "This is Black Spider in office. It's been three hours, that's too long. How many hostages in the gym?"

The man watching Libby, Sheen, and the others tallied them up. "Twenty."

Black Spider thought for a moment. He needed to show the cops that he meant business without wasting too many hostages. There was no telling how many he would have to go through before his demands were met. Once you're out of hostages, you don't have a bargaining chip. "Bring me three."

Libby looked up as the masked man slowly walked up to her, brandishing a pistol. "You guys are coming with me. Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you," he lied.

He hoisted Sheen and Carl up. He ripped the tape off of their mouths. He did the same for Libby. The four of them walked out into the hallway and continued towards the office.

The three kids stood in a horizontal line in front of the killer. Libby was wondering what she could do. _Come on Libby, think! A way to attack him so he can't fight back. _That thought gave her an idea. She suddenly stopped walking.

"Move it!" the man shouted.

"I can't! My foot's stuck in something!" she nervously shouted.

"For god's sake," The man sighed as he kneeled down and stared at her show. Libby wisely took this opportunity to break the ropes around her hands. She slammed them down as hard as she could into the guy's head.

"Get him!" she shouted at Sheen and Carl. As the man got up, Sheen tackled him as hard as he could.

"Get off of me!" the gunmen shouted at Sheen, who was hanging on to his back. He tried to reach behind him and shoot Sheen, but Sheen grabbed his wrist and bit him. "Damn it!" shouted in pain. He dropped the gun, which Libby quickly picked up.

"Get off of him!" she shouted at Sheen. Sheen jumped off of the gunman. As the angry man pulled himself and walked towards Libby, she fired three shots at him. Two missed, but one managed to go through his head.

Sheen and Libby breathed a sigh of relief. They both stared at the shaking Carl. "Thanks for the help!" Sheen sarcastically shouted.

Carl ran up to the dead man and kicked him in the crotch. He then walked back over to Libby and Sheen. "I helped!"


	12. Reunited

**Author's Note: I know Jimmy could have used Goddard, his shrink ray, hypno beam, etc. But I think it's more exciting and realistic if he only has his jetpack and smoke bombs.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Jimmy grabbed Cindy's arm and pulled her to a stop at the end of the street. He pushed a button on his backpack. The two wings of his jetpack jutted out of the sides. He wrapped his arm around Cindy's waist and looked down at her. Cindy smiled up at him. "I have to hold onto you if you want to fly," he reminded her.

"Sure you do."

Jimmy smiled as well, but shook it off his face. _Focus. We've got bigger problems right now._ "Ready?" he asked her.

"Always."

Jimmy hit another button and they flew about five feet in the air before falling back to the ground. "I can fix that!" Jimmy shouted. He pushed a few more buttons. "Ok, now I'm ready," he said while grabbing her again. This time they soared up into the sky.

As Jimmy straightened out his course and headed towards the school, Cindy looked up at him. He had his arm wrapped around her, his hair flowing in the breeze. _I know I've seen this in a movie somewhere._

"So what exactly is the plan?" she asked him.

Jimmy smiled at the opportunity to display his genius. "Well, we fly onto the roof of the school, hopefully undetected by the media. We sneak in, throw some smoke bombs, steal their guns, and save the day."

They both smiled as the school came into sight. Jimmy pressed a button on his backpack. His smile faded a little.

"You might want to gain some altitude," Cindy told him.

"Uh, we might need a new plan," he nervously said before covering his head with his free arm.

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"What do we do now, my little love blossom?" Sheen asked.

"I swear to god if you don't stop using nicknames," Libby mumbled under her breath. _Focus. We've got bigger problems right now._ She took a quick look around the hallway. She noticed a door to her right. She tried to open it, but it was locked. "Darn it, it's locked!"

"Don't worry. Your man will handle this!" Sheen proudly said while taking a few steps back. Using every ounce of his strength, he ran into the door. And bounced right off.

Libby stared down at him like he was mentally challenged. Well, more mentally challenged. Without looking up, she pointed the gun at the lock and fired it. She gently pushed the door open and walked inside.

"Come on Sheen," Carl said while helping his friend up.

"I could have done that! I was trying the _manly_ way!" he said while rushing into the room and closing it behind him.

Libby felt around for the light switch and flicked it on. "Ah!" she shouted. The room was littered with dead bodies. She turned the lights back off. "There's a window in here. I think that's all the light we need." Sheen and Carl nodded their heads in agreement.

Carl took a seat at a desk that wasn't near any bodies. "Guys, what do we do now?" he quietly asked.

Libby thought for a moment. "There are six other people. They're going to notice their little friend is dead soon. They'll probably split up and look for us. If we stay in here and hide, we can surprise them and pick them off," she said while holding up the gun.

Sheen walked up to Libby and puffed out his chest. "I think you should let the man handle the guns."

"NO!" Carl and Libby shouted.

Sheen was about to complain, but he put his hand to his ear instead. "Do you guys hear something?"

Carl stood up from his desk and walked over to Sheen and Libby. They all became quiet and listened.

"Yeah, I do," Carl said.

"Where's it coming from?" Libby asked. _It sounds like, screaming._

Suddenly Jimmy and Cindy flew through the window, across the classroom, and slammed into the wall on the other end of the room. Libby took a step forward to see who it was, but Jimmy and Cindy hopped up to their feet.

"I'm, I'm ok. I'm ok!" Cindy happily shouted.

"I'm hurt!" Jimmy muttered while getting to his feet and clutching his back.

Cindy's joy turned to anger as she spun around and faced Jimmy. "What the hell just happened?"

Jimmy hobbled over to a desk and sat down. "The brakes stalled. Like that never happens to you."

Cindy and Jimmy continued arguing. Libby, Sheen, and Carl stared on in utter disbelief. "Jimmy? Cindy?" Libby incredulously asked.

Jimmy didn't even look behind him. "Not now Libby! I'm trying to save Sheen, Carl, and Libby!" He started to yell at Cindy, but he did a double take and looked behind him at his three friends. He turned triumphantly towards Cindy. "Told you I'd find them!"


	13. Goodbyes

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"This is news correspondent Tammy Hilton reporting at Lindbergh Elementary School. This story is becoming more and more intriguing. Just a few moments ago an unidentified flying object flew threw a window on the west side of the school. The police at first thought it was a person, but its head appeared too big to be human. More on this interesting twist after these commercials."

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"Bravo, Jimmy! We could have drilled a hole in the roof, we could have tunneled in, but you had to fly eighty miles an hour through a glass window into a two foot thick wall!" Cindy angrily shouted at Jimmy.

Jimmy turned his attention away from his three other friends and looked at Cindy again. "How was I supposed to know the brakes would stall? At least I got us here!"

Libby, Sheen, and Carl looked at each other with a look of utter confusion on each of their faces. "Uh, guys?" Carl timidly asked Cindy and Jimmy.

"You're just lucky I owe you one for taking so long in that mall, Neutron. Or we'd so be over right now!" Cindy shouted.

Now the three other friends were really confused. "Um, did we miss something?" Libby asked.

Jimmy and Cindy turned their attention back to Libby and the others, for the first time truly noticing. "Guys! You're alright!" Jimmy shouted while running over and enveloping the three of them in a huge hug. Cindy smiled and did the same.

Libby was the first to break away. Her joyous smile that was a result of seeing her friends turned into a frown. "What's this about a mall?"

Jimmy and Cindy nervously chuckled. "We, uh, kind of played hooky," Cindy explained.

Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess it was a pretty good day to do it, huh?" Sheen, Carl, and Libby angrily stared at him. "So how was your day?"

Sheen took a step forward. "How was our day? Hoe was our day? I'll tell you how our day went," he started to explain, but Libby shoved him to the side.

"What's this about you two being over?" she asked.

Cindy sighed. "Don't worry, we're not over." She immediately clamped her hands over her mouth.

Jimmy angrily stared at her. He wiped his hand across the air. "Smooth."

Sheen jumped off of the floor and stood back up on his feet. "You two are?"

"Together?" Libby and Carl asked at the same time.

Jimmy and Cindy stared at each other. "Are we?" Jimmy asked, a little confused himself.

Cindy blushed. She stared at her three friends standing in front of her. "Does this really matter right now?"

"YEAH!" they all enthusiastically shouted.

Jimmy took a step forward. "I'd love to sit around and talk about whether or not I have a love life," he said while turning his head around and smiling at Cindy, "but I believe there is a situation here."

Libby was the first to react. "You mean you guys flying into a wall, hundreds of kids being shot, or the hostage situation?"

"The hostage thing," Jimmy told her. "What exactly is going on in here?"

"Seven armed men came into the school about three hours ago. They killed a lot of people and took others, _moi_, as hostages. They were about to kill us, but we took out the guard that was escorting us. And that is why we are hiding in this classroom."

Cindy turned towards Jimmy. "So what's the next part of your plan again?"

"Well, my plan included safely landing on the roof and sneaking into the school, not flying through a window into the heart of battle."

Cindy stared at him. "Well, put that big brain of yours to work!"

As Jimmy sat down on top of a desk and started thinking, Libby pulled Cindy aside. "So what exactly is the deal with you two?"

Cindy decided to play the dumb card. "What are you talking about?"

Libby just crossed her arms and stared at Cindy. "You're a bad liar, girl. I found out on that island, I guessed it when we fought the League of Villains, and I know it now. So might as well just save yourself hours of irritating nagging and give me some details."

Cindy was a little surprised at her friend's profound thought. _Ah, hell. Jimmy knows, why shouldn't she?_ "Well, we played hooky. We were having a pretty good time, and he kissed me. But the day was kind of ruined when we found out about this thing going on here."

"Oh. So sorry to ruin your day," Libby sarcastically said. She quickly smiled, though. "Although I'm glad to hear that _something_ finally happened. I've seen Amish kids get together faster."

Jimmy happened to be walking by at this moment. He paused by the two girls and picked up Libby's gun. He started to walk back to his desk, but he stopped as he passed Cindy. "As long as the secret's out," he said while kissing her cheek. Cindy blushed. "You'll have the gun back in a sec, Libby."

Cindy and Libby followed Jimmy back to his desk. He hopped back on top of it and pulled out his smoke bombs. He took a pen out of Sheen's hand and made a small hole in one of the smoke bombs. He tilted it upside down and watched the contents that created the smokescreen fall out. He then took a bullet out of the gun's magazine. He very slowly poured the gunpowder into the empty bomb. "Scissors," he said.

Sheen ran over to the teacher's desk and got out some scissors. He ran back over and handed them over to Jimmy. He held his hair up with one hand and cut a large chunk of the long hair out with the other. He laid it down on the desk. _Good thing I haven't had a haircut in a year. It's got to be long for this to work._

"String," told Sheen. Sheen sighed and ran back over to the teacher's desk. He came back with some string. Jimmy took it and tied about a dozen strands of his hair together. He stuffed it into the bomb.

He took off his broken jetpack and opened it up. "Paperclip."

Sheen just stood there. "I'm not getting it."

Cindy sighed and got a paper clip from the teacher's desk. She handed it to Jimmy. "Here you go."

"Thanks, Hon," Jimmy said. He shot his head up after he said that. "Well, we're never going to use that nickname again."

"Stick with Cind. Please," Cindy said while laughing.

Jimmy straightened out the paper clip and held it against the few flames that sputtered out of his jetpack. _Come on, come on._ Finally the paperclip started to melt. Jimmy held the smoldering metal against the hole in the smoke bombs. It welded shut around the hair. He gently picked the small bomb up and tilted it upside down. The hair stayed in place.

"Got it," he said.

"And that would be?" Sheen asked.

"A small bomb," Jimmy happily said.

Libby stared at it. "Jimmy, no offense. It's very nice, but wouldn't it be a lot easier to simply fire the gun?"

Jimmy picked up the gun and aimed it at the ceiling. He fired it, but nothing happened. "I don't know what happened, but the thing's jammed. I don't suppose you guys have any lighters on you?" Everybody shook their heads. "Didn't think so," he sadly said.

For the next thirty minutes Jimmy repeated this process until he had a total of five bombs. "Carl, Sheen, I need your shirts." Sheen and Carl stared at him. "Guys, we're dealing with bombs here. We're going to be moving around, and I don't want to blow up. So I need insulation."

Sheen and Carl sighed and took off their shirts, as did Jimmy. He wrapped the five bombs in the shirts and carefully put them in his backpack. He gave his knife and the gun back to Libby.

"So what do we do now, Jimmy?" Carl asked.

Jimmy slung his backpack around his shoulders and faced the group. You three aren't doing anything. You've done your part, it's my turn. Libby, use the knife to reflect the sun out the window. Signal the cops. They'll figure some way to sneak you out without those masked guys seeing. If they can't and the gunmen find you, bluff your way out with the gun. I don't much about firearms, so I don't know how to fix it. Sorry."

"Fine by me," Sheen said while walking over to the window. Carl ran after him.

Libby just stared after Jimmy. "Jimmy, I can handle this."  
Jimmy shook his head. "A third person is too many. My plan can only fit two. Besides, I'm not leaving Sheen and Carl alone here. You've done your part, let me do mine."

Libby just nodded her head and held her hand out. "Good luck you guys." Jimmy smiled and shook it. Cindy hugged her best friend. "He's a keeper, Cindy," she whispered into her ear. They both smiled before Cindy followed Jimmy to the other end of the room.

He was standing on top of a chair he had balanced on the teacher's desk. He hit a ceiling tile until it gave way. He jumped up and hung on, praying that it wouldn't crumble beneath him. When he safely made it inside, he looked down and saw Cindy.

Libby watched as an arm reached down from the ceiling and helped pull Cindy up. She smiled as she watched her two friends disappear. _I knew they'd come._


	14. The Two Sticks of Gum

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

Author's Note: We're heading towards the end of the story now, so I thought I'd give some thank-you's to all my reviewers. _CindyNeutron3, _acosta pérez josé ramiro, _ReddistheRose, Superdork398, kingdom219, Sassy08, _and _Snowboarder9 _have all given plenty of reviews that were very descriptive. Thanks you guys! And now I'll respond to a few things in the reviews I received.  
****

**_samuraistar_**: **I do know a little bit about firearms, but I'm not sure if the bomb thing would actually work. I sat down and thought of a productive solution with the supplies at hand. And yeah, I do watch _MacGyver._ I kept thinking, _there's got to be a MacGyverism _for this. **

acosta pérez josé ramiro: While I won't reveal who dies (if anyone), I'll tell you that I didn't mean the title of the chapter that way. It referred to them splitting up again.

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Jimmy slowly crawled through the ceiling tiles, praying that each one would hold his weight. Cindy was about a foot behind him. "Cindy, can you please move back a little bit?"

Cindy looked at him. "Why? Am I in your personal space?" she sarcastically asked.

Jimmy clenched his teeth. "No. First off, we have to separate our weight so the tiles don't collapse. And two, I'm handling bombs here. If they go off, I don't want you to blow up too."

Cindy stare at him, a small smile spreading across her face. She was impressed with his chivalry. But then she truly deciphered what he had just told her. "Those things are safe, right?"

Jimmy crawled a few feet forward and turned back towards Cindy. "I told you I don't know much about guns. It's not nitroglycerin, but I don't want to take any chances. I don't know what makes this stuff go off."

They continued slowly making their way through the ceiling, stopping every few seconds so Jimmy could check the strength of the next tile. "So, what exactly is the plan, Jimmy?"

Jimmy cautiously went across another tile. "We reach the office, which is where the gunmen are hiding. We drop the bombs. If we're lucky, it'll kill them or knock them out long enough so we can grab their guns. If not," he explained to her.

"Yeah, I know," Cindy nervously said.

They continued on in an awkward silence, trying not to think about what would happen if they messed up. Jimmy suddenly stopped and held his hand up.

"What is it?" Cindy asked.

Jimmy put his ear to the ceiling tile. He then took out his knife and cut a small hole in it. He peered down at the floor below. He could see someone in a mask going down the hallway.

As Jimmy closed his eyes in thought, he thought of something. He turned behind him towards Cindy. "Cind, how close are we to the office?"

Cindy closed her eyes and envisioned the school's layout. "Uh, I don't know. I think it's at the end of this hallway. Maybe thirty feet."

Jimmy did a quick calculation in his mind and sighed. _It's risky, but it just might be our best chance. _"Cindy, do you have any gum?"

Cindy fiddled in her pockets and pulled out a couple of sticks. She tossed them to Jimmy, who opened them and threw them in his mouth. He began chewing rapidly while taking his backpack off.

"I'm scared to ask, but what exactly are you doing?"

Jimmy carefully unwrapped the bombs and laid them on the ceiling tile. He opened up the broken jetpack's computer system and began fiddling with some wires. He turned a knob and stared at the rocket on the left side. A flame about the size of one on a candle was glowing. He turned it off and smiled. He took out the pieces of gum and covered the back of the rocket (where the flames come out) with them. He laid it down on the tile next to the pile of explosives. He stuck the hair/fuse to the top of the gum.

He turned back towards Cindy. "It's a time delay. I'll set the flame on, and it will slowly burn the gum. When the gum burns off, it will fall onto the ceiling tile. The hair is attached to the gum. As the gum falls it will get lit on fire. The flame will travel up the fuse and ignite the bombs. The gunmen will see the explosions and call the people in the office out to investigate. By the time it blows, we'll be directly above the office. We'll drop in unnoticed and take it from there," he happily told Cindy while smiling.

Cindy just shook her head. "Leave it to Jimmy Neutron to build a bomb out of gum, hair, and string."

"Ready?" Jimmy asked as he put his hand on the jetpack's knob.

"Yeah," Cindy said as he turned it. They both crawled as fast as they could across the ceiling as the gum began to melt.


	15. The Angel

**Author's Note: As many of my regular readers know, I often change from an omniscient-view of the story and do a chapter or part of a chapter from Jimmy's perspective. This is one of those chapters.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

It's kind of funny if you think about it. Ironic, really. I'm a genius. I've traveled through time, invented things only seen in science fiction movies, and defeated countless foes. Yet even the most brilliant of minds have a moment of weakness. 

And what's even more ironic is you notice what you did wrong right before it happens. If you forgot to study for a test, you'll remember it as you walk into the classroom. If you forgot to turn the stove off, you'll remember it as soon as you leave from work on the way home. That's what happened to me.

I don't know what it was. Perhaps it was the rush of being with Cindy. Maybe it was the joy of nearing the end of my latest adventure. Or maybe it was just pure ignorance. At any rate, I made a mistake. I had just instructed Cindy not to do that very mistake, yet here I was doing it two minutes later.

Ceiling tile is not very strong. I guessed that it might be able to hold sixty pounds. Luckily, I was a little off. It was able to hold my seventy-five. But as Cindy and I picked up our pace and crawled faster through the ceiling, we inadvertently put our weight on one single tile.

There was no way that tile could have held our combined weight. I knew it the second I looked behind me and saw Cindy only a few inches away. As my eyes looked down at where her weight was, the tile cracked. I couldn't help but chuckle a little on the inside.

I mean, it was funny. Here was a kid who had survived crashing through a building only an hour before. And now I was about to be done in by a ceiling tile! And only fifteen feet from the office! One hundred and eighty inches from my goal! Four hundred and fifty centimeters from the end of my adventure!

I knew the fall wouldn't kill me. I'd get some bruises, maybe a broken leg. But the bullets, those would kill me. The gunmen on the other end of the hallway would see me and open fire. I'd have nowhere to hide. And I'd be in no shape to run anyway.

They say that when you are about to die, your life will flash before your eyes. I can tell you it's true. I saw things that I had never remembered before. My first steps, my first word, my first day of school. I remembered my first day of school back in my hometown.

And then I remembered _her_. The blonde-haired girl. My toughest challenge and my greatest fight. The only person who had ever challenged me. The only thing I could never figure out. Why did I have feelings towards her when all we did was argue? How could she be so mean, yet have moments of such tenderness? And the worst question of all, why did I wait until today to tell her how I felt?

And so I did the most unnatural thing anyone could do. I laughed. I laughed at how ironic my life was. To tell the girl I loved my feelings on the day I die! To survive space, aliens, and super-villains, yet be done in by a few square feet of ceiling tile! It was hilarious!

And as I began the slow descent towards the floor, I looked up and saw an angel. Its hair was golden like the sunset. Its look of sadness as another young child died. And as it reached down and grabbed my arm, I smiled. I knew it was lifting me up towards heaven. I knew I was going to a better place. I knew my horrendous ordeal was over. And the angel smiled as well. The angel smiled as it lifted me towards Heaven. And as our eyes connected, I saw the face of that angel. And the most hilarious thing of all, I wasn't the least bit surprised about who it was. It was Cindy.

**Author's Note: I know it's a little weird, but after you read the next chapter it will make more sense.**


	16. Shootout

**Disclaimer: Nope. I still do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Cindy screamed a little as the front half of the tile was on gave way. She watched Jimmy's face turn to a look of...joy? Instead of screaming, it looked like he was starting to laugh. _Well he's going to have to explain why this is so funny later._ She quickly lunged down and grabbed his arm.

As she used every ounce of her strength to pull him back up into the ceiling, their eyes connected. She clenched her teeth and gave one final tug. As she pulled him back into the ceiling, she moved backwards a couple of feet. _Won't make that mistake again._

"Jimmy!" she whispered as loud as she dared. He shook his head and came out of his daze.

"What?" he asked.

"Move!" Cindy seethed. Jimmy took a quick look around. "Now!" Jimmy nodded his head and continued towards the office, going as fast as he could.

The gunmen patrolling the halls turned around when he heard something crash onto the floor. He raised an eyebrow and aimed his gun as he saw what appeared to be someone's legs. He was about to fire when a fairly large explosion occurred directly above him.

"What the hell!" he shouted as he covered his head, trying to shield his eyes from the raining debris. "This is Green Patrol, there's some kind of explosion in the ceiling near the office!" he shouted into the cell phone, forgetting about the kid he had just seen. He aimed his gun up at where the explosion had just occurred.

Jimmy and Cindy continued moving through the ceiling. Jimmy thought he could hear footsteps moving away from the office, but he couldn't be sure. He knew he didn't have much more time. He punched the tile ahead of him and jumped through the hole, as did Cindy.

Jimmy picked his head up and stared through the glass windows in the office. He could see the three men investigating the explosion at the other end of the hallway. Ignoring the pain in his right leg, he stood up and grabbed Cindy's hand. He pulled her up as well. They limped forward and crouched down on each side of the office door. Jimmy made stared Cindy in the eyes.

"This will either save us or kill us," he told her.

Cindy nodded. "I know."

They heard the two men making their way back to the office. Jimmy grabbed a ceramic mug off of a nearby desk. He clenched it in his right hand. "You stab the guy on your side, I'll get the one on my mine. I'll dive for the gun. Ok?" He reached into his pocket with his other hand and pressed something.

Cindy nodded her head. She pulled out her knife and tightly grabbed its hilt. She knew the odds were against them. Those guys had rifles, they had a knife and a mug. But she knew they couldn't have survived all of this only to die now. "Let's do it."

As the men pulled open the door Cindy and Jimmy jumped up. By the time they tried to raise their guns, Cindy had already swung the knife as hard as she could into one of the men's face. He fell to the ground dead, dropping his rifle.

Jimmy smashed the mug into the second man's head. Not as effective as the knife, he only succeeded in knocking the man backwards. He dropped the broken mug and reached for the rifle. He swiveled it at the masked gunmen and pulled the trigger four times.

As the man screamed in pain, Green Patrol looked behind him, his gun ready. he fired several rounds towards Jimmy. Jimmy returned the fire before falling to the ground in pain, clutching his right arm. He smiled as he saw the other gunmen fall down.

With the men dead, Cindy dropped her knife and bent down towards Jimmy. "Jimmy! Are you ok?" she asked him, starting to cry.

Jimmy nodded his head and laughed a little. "The arm. He just got the arm." Cindy wrapped him in a giant hug and stared down at the bloody boy. They both smiled, knowing what was coming. Cindy bent down and kissed him.

"What now?" she asked a few seconds later. Jimmy used his good arm to reach inside his pocket. He pulled out the talking device he had used to fool the school that morning. He pressed a button and spoke into it.

"We get the rest of the guys here for a little surprise," he said in the gunmen's voice. He had recorded the man's scream as he died.

Cindy grabbed his hand and pulled him up. Jimmy hobbled over to the loudspeaker and turned it on. He held the talking device up to his mouth. "Attention. There is a change of plans. Please report to the office immediately. Leave the hostages for now. This won't take long. Put your guns aside. This plan won't work if you have your guns with you. It will make sense when you come in here."

As the unsuspecting men walked in, Cindy gunned them down. She threw the rifle onto the floor and let Jimmy put his arm around her shoulder. She helped him limp out the front door to alert the police, who rushed inside to rescue the other hostages.

Author's Note: I thoroughly apologize for this chapter. I know it wasn't very good. I tried to think how to end this story, but I couldn't think of any way! But don't worry, there is one chapter left. And it will be a lot better, I promise. Sorry again.


	17. The Retroville News

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

The next day Cindy, Libby, Carl, Sheen, and Jimmy were sitting at the Candy Bar. Cindy's left leg was in a cast. Jimmy had a broken right leg and a bandaged right arm. He was barely able to get around, even with crutches.

"Well, that was one hell of a day yesterday, huh?" Sheen asked. It was the first time the five of them had been together since the incident.

"Yeah. It was," Cindy sadly said.

"How many, uh?" Libby asked Jimmy.

Jimmy frowned. "Around two hundred and fifty."

They all sat in silence for a moment. They felt guilty about being alive. Why should they live when so many others died?

"Cind, well, what now?" Jimmy nervously asked.

"What do you mean?"

Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck with his good hand. "You know. Us. We're not going back to what we were before, are we? I'm sick of it, Cind. I really am."

Cindy smiled. "Yeah, me too. I guess it's about time to finally say it. Jimmy, I lo..."

Suddenly a waitress walked over. "What'll it be, kids?"

Cindy and Jimmy's faces sunk at being interrupted again, but they smiled when they locked eyes. _So maybe it won't happen today. So what. We're only eleven. We've got the rest of our lives to say those three words. But we've only got a few years left to be kids, _Jimmy thought.

Jimmy smiled as he held up his mom's credit card. After you've been shot and nearly killed, he found his parents were more than happy to pay for a meal out with his friends. "My treat, you guys." 

Sheen put down his menu. "Fish and chips." Everyone stared at him. None of them had ever ordered something other than ice cream there before. "Come on. It's eight at night. I'm too hungry for just dessert.

Carl nodded his head. "Uh, seafood platter."

Libby tapped her fingers against the table for a moment before deciding. "Uh, give me the pizza."

Jimmy decided to try something new as well. "Give me some spaghetti."

Cindy locked eyes with Jimmy and smiled. Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "You're buying?" she asked. Jimmy shook his head. She turned back to the waitress. "The lobster." As the waitress walked away, she leaned across the table and gently kissed Jimmy.

Jimmy smiled. "Looks like dreams do come true." Libby, Sheen, and Carl stared at each other, not getting their little in-joke. Cindy and Jimmy just smiled.

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The anchorwoman smiled as the camera scene on the monitor shifted from Jimmy and Cindy kissing at the Candy Bar to herself. "And there you have it. The single worst school massacre in history is over. But even through the darkest of times, it appears that something good will always happen.

And you won't get this next line unless you're a resident of Retroville. On behalf of those two kids, I'd like to say this. It's about damn time." The anchorwoman just laughed as the screen slowly faded out.

"This is Jane Smith, reporting for Retroville News. Goodnight."


End file.
